Crash likely from hitting wrong pedal

This rental car, containing two Chinese tourists, crashed
through a fence yesterday and came to a halt in the
playground of Queenstown Playcentre, which was closed for
Waitangi Day. Photo by Queenstown Police.

An out-of-control car crashed into the Queenstown
Playcentre playground yesterday. No children were at the
playcentre, which was closed for Waitangi Day.

A 30-year-old Chinese man, visiting Queenstown with his
female partner, were in the Nissan Tiida, which he attempted
to drive from its overnight parked position in Malaghan St,
Queenstown Hill, at 11am.

''If it hadn't been Waitangi Day, it could have had dire
consequences,'' Sergeant Blair Duffy, of Queenstown, said.

It appeared the driver stepped on the accelerator pedal
instead of the brake.

The car, with the tourists inside, travelled down the hill,
across the intersection with Henry St and a vacant driveway
before crashing through the playcentre's wooden fence and
coming to a halt with the front wheels hanging over a bank.

The car stopped about 1m from a playhouse.

Sgt Duffy said the driver appeared to be at fault.

The cause was not mechanical, he said. Police issued the man
with an infringement notice, with a fine of $600, and he was
forbidden to drive until he departed New Zealand on Tuesday.

The tourists were not injured and their rental car had
insurance cover.

Playcentre supervisor Marata Cooney, of Arthurs Point, was
relieved it happened on a holiday and that no-one was hurt.